Metallic post



June 26, 1934. H, El LYNCH 1,964,404

METALLIC POST Filed Oct. 31. 1929 E36. az Z i if /5 Z22? a//a /f E?? /7/i;

: s i E IN VEN TOR.

Har/"jf E L )fric/1.

Patented June 26, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METALLIC POST KansasCity, Mo.

Application October 31,

4 Claims.

My invention relates to fence posts and more particularly to metallicfence posts.

It is a purpose of my invention to make a strong and durable fence postwith wire securing means thereon that are also strong and durable andwhich can be readily engaged with the wire to hold the same without theuse of any special tools.

It has been found that ordinary sheet metal l0 fence posts with sheetmetal fingers thereon for holding the wire are not lasting in characterand kdo not hold the wire rmly and reliably in position. Furthermore,most of such posts that are hollow in character, have openings thereindue to the fingers being punched therefrom through which water willenter the same and cause the same to rust out and be destroyed in ashort time. Such posts are usually not of sufficient strength tomaintain live stock within the fenced area, as the running of the livestock into the fence will cause the posts to either bend or collapse orthe wires to become disengaged therefrom,

It is accordingly a purpose of my invention to provide a strong solidimperforate metallic post the material of which is of suicient thicknessand rigidity that the same will not be bent out of shape and which isprovided with projecting fastening elements thereon that are of sufcientcross section that the same will remain in wire holding position eventhough the wire is put under an unusual tension or is twisted. Thefastening elements are rigidly fixed in position on the post and arepreferably electrically welded thereto so as to be substantiallyintegral therewith.

It is a further purpose of my invention to provide such projectingfastening elements that extend from one face of the post at a slightlyoblique angle, and which are made of steel of such a character that thesame can be bent without heating toward the post into wire clampingposition by a hammer blow and will remain in such position after havingbeen bent into wire clamping position. It is also a purpose of myinvention to make the post of such thickness and stiifness that the samewill serve as an anvil or backing member that will not bend or bedistorted in any manner when the wire fastening projections are hammeredtoward the same to clamp the wire between the fastening projection andthe post.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear as thedescription of the drawing proceeds. I desire to have it distinctlyunderstood, however, that I do not intend to limit my- 1929, Serial No.403,781

self to the particular details shown or described, but that I intend toinclude as part of my invention, all such obvious changes andmodifications as would occur to a person skilled in this art and aswould fall within the scope of the claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective View of one of my improved fence posts showingwires in engagement therewith, the wires being partly broken away and aportion of vthe post being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a View partly in side elevation and partly in section of apost of tubular form embodying my invention, partly broken away.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section, partly broken away, of another form of/post made in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the post shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section of a post partly broken awayshowing one of the projections in clamping position, and another in theposition thereof prior to being bent into clamping relation with thewire, and

Fig. 6 is a transverse section through the post shown in Fig. 3.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the various forms of posts shown areonly different in cross section and the principle of operation of thevarious forms shown is substantially the same. In Fig. 1 a post 10 isshown that is substantially T-shaped in cross section, and whichcomprises a transverse portion 11 and a rearwardly extending flange l2substantially perpendicular thereto. The post 10 is made of heavy steelconstruction similar to structural shapes and is sufficiently stiff andstrong that the same can be driven into the ground without any damagethereto or bending thereof. In order to facilitate the driving of thepost '10 into the ground the transverse p0rtion 11 is provided with atapered lower end 13 and the flange 12 is tapered at its lower end asshown at 14 to correspond to the taper of the portion 13. Extending fromthe face of the portion 11 of the post 10 are the wire clampingprojecting finger-like studs 15 which serve as the wire fasteningelements, the same being bent into position toward the Vpost to clampthe wires 16 between the face of the post and said bent over studs.Certain of said studs are also utilized to 'secure an anchor plate l17to the post below the ground. The anchor plate may be of various shapes,but is preferably tapered and is shown as being triangular in thedrawing.

In Figs. 2 and 4 a tubular substantially cylindrical post 20 is shown,which has the closed substantially flat top 21 and the closed taperedsubstantially conical bottom end 22 to facilitate driving the same intothe ground. The ends are so united with the post, by welding orotherwise, as to leave no cracks or openings therein through which watermight enter the interior of the post. The fingerlike studs 15 are alsoprovided on the post 20 and these are mounted in the same way asdescribed in connection with Fig. 1 and secure the wires 16 and anchorplate 17 in position in the same manner as above described.

In Figs. 3 and 6 an angle iron post 30 is shown, said post having atransverse portion 31 and a rearwardly extending flange 32 thetransverse portion 31 being tapered as shown at 33 and the flange 32being tapered at 34 to provide a tapered lower end on the post tofacilitate driving the same into the ground. The transverse portion 32of the post 30 is provided with the projecting ngerlike studs 15previously described and these serve to hold the wires 16 and the anchorplate 17 in position on the post in the manner previously described.

The ngerlike studs 15 are made substantially the same when used with anyone of the forms of posts described, and are secured to all the posts inthe same manner and have the same relationship to the various posts. Thesame are accordingiy described in detail only in connection with oneform of post, as the cross sectional shape of the post is or" secondaryimportance.

In Fig. 5 is shown a fragmentary portion of one of the posts lo, on anenlarged scale, to more clearly show the mounting of the studs and theinclination thereof relative to the face of the post. The post is brokenaway between two adjacent studs to bring the same into closer proximityin this figure. Each of said studs comprises a iingerlike body portion15 that is substantially cylindrical in form, being made, preferably, ofa length of rod-like metal. The ngerlike stud 15 is made of a differentmaterial than the post and is of such a character that the same can bebent into wire clinching position by one or two blows of a sledge hammeror similar hammer, without cracking or breaking and will remain in suchwire clinching position and is preferably made of a ductile steel. rThestud 15 is secured to the post 10, or to any of the other posts shown bywelding the same thereto so as to make the same an integral part of thepost, said welding is preferably done by an electric resistance weldingprocess, and the weld is shown at 18 in the drawing, forming a solidbond between the stud and the post, so that the stud is substantially anintegral part of the post.

When the wire is to be attached to the post the same is usually broughtinto a position adjacent the post on the upper side of the stud and thestud being slightly inclined upwardly relative to the perpendicular tothe face of the post, the wire will tend to lie in a position near thebase of the stud. The stud is then struck a blow with a. hammer orsimilar tool to bend the same upwardly and toward the post, as shown inthe lower portion of Fig. 5 to clinch the wire i6 between the stud andthe post, the outer end 19 of the stud being brought substantially intoengagement with the face of the post and the bend in the stud beingrather abrupt, as indicated at 23. The stud can, of course, also be bentsidewise to clamp a vertically extending wire to the post if desired.The post in any case serves as a sort of an anvil or backing member andis preferably made of a relatively harder metal, such as a low carbonsteel, so as not to bend or warp when the stud is bent into wireclinching position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byUnited States Letters Patent is:

l. A post of the character described comprising an imperforate, hard,rigid steel body portion, and elongated, substantially straight,iinger-like, ductile steel studs welded to the imperforate outer face ofsaid body portion, and projecting upwardly from their point of unionwith said body portion at an oblique angle to said body portion, toprovide tapering wire receiving pockets between said outer face of saidbody portion and said studs, the outer ends of each of said studs beingadapted to be bent against said body portion to clamp a wire betweensaid stud and said post.

2. A post of the character described comprising an imperforate, hard,rigid, steel body portion, and elongated substantially straight,rodlike, ductile steel studs of substantially uniform cross section fromend to end thereof, electric resistance welded to the imperforate outerface of said body portion, and projecting upwardly from their point ofunion with said body portion at an oblique angle to said body portion,to provide tapering wire receiving pockets between said outer face ofsaid body portion and said studs,

said studs having blunt outer ends which are adapted to be bent againstthe outer face of said body portion.

3. A post of the character described comprising an imperforate, hard,rigid steel body portion having a flat uninterrupted, wire attachingface and a bracing portion extending perpendicularly rearwardly fromsaid attaching face, and elongated, substantially straight, ringer-like,ductile steel studs welded at one end thereof to said fiat face of saidbody portion, and extending outwardly from said face so as to beslightly inclined upwardly at an oblique angle to a perpendicular tosaid flat face, said studs being of substantially uniform cross sectionfrom end to end thereof and having blunt outer ends adapted to be bentagainst the flat face of said body portion by hammering withoutdeformation or denting of said at face.

4. A post of the character described comprising an imperforate, closed,hard, rigid tubularY steel body portion of substantially uniformdiameter throughout the length thereof except for a tapered bottom endportion, and elongated, substantially straight, finger-like, ductilesteel studs welded at one end thereof to said tubular body portion onthe outer face thereof and projecting slightly upwardly at an obliqueangle to said body portion from their point of union with said bodyportion to their outer ends, said studs being of substantially uniformcross section from end to end thereof and having blunt outer endsadapted to be bent against the outer face of said body portion byhammering without deformation or denting of said body portion.

HARRY E. LYNCH.

